The family business · 2016 campaign · № 12
Aras and Emin Agalarov send Trump a painting from Russia as a birthday gift during the campaign
“The painting you sent me is truly fantastic and a very thoughtful gesture!”
- Date
- , Letter to Emin and Aras Agalarov dated June 17, 2016, reproduced in the Senate intelligence committee's 2020 report
- Subject
- Russia
- Benefit
- Gifts and payments
- Government
- Russia
- Beneficiary
- Donald Trump
- Amount
- $100,000 (reported value of a set of three paintings, one of which was delivered)
- Topic
- Ethics & conflicts
- Era
- 2016 campaign
What happened
On June 10, 2016, the day after the Trump Tower meeting that the Agalarovs helped arrange, Rob Goldstone told Trump's assistant that Emin and Aras Agalarov had "a fairly sizable birthday gift" for Trump. Agalarov employees delivered a painting that had been brought from Russia to Trump Tower, and emails indicate it arrived on June 13, 2016, according to the Senate intelligence committee. Goldstone told the committee he had been told the set of three paintings was worth $100,000; the other two were never delivered. Trump thanked the Agalarovs in a letter dated June 17, 2016. The committee found that Aras Agalarov has significant ties to the Russian government and access to President Vladimir Putin, and it also reported that Trump sought Emin Agalarov's address in July 2014 to thank him for a watch.
Sources
- Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence, United States Senate, on Russian Active Measures Campaigns and Interference in the 2016 U.S. Election, Volume 5: Counterintelligence Threats and Vulnerabilities
- Country and Territory Ratings and Statuses, 1973-2024
- Russia: Freedom in the World 2017 Country Report